I haven't quite figured out how long the trip is. I think it is in the 700-750 mile range, but it is hard to say since I won't even know the starting point until just before I start. I hope to put in big daily miles in Indiana and western Ohio so that I can cut back to handle the 100+ miles of nasty hills in eastern Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

I still needed to know if I could ride a long way over varied terrain without bonking or feeling utterly miserable at the end. Today my wife, daughter, and I picked up my son at camp outside of Front Royal, Virginia. Front Royal is at the northern end (or start) of Skyline Drive. I decided to bring my bike and ride home.

I left the camp at about 9:30, heading north and downhill into Front Royal. What a nice way to start a ride, 30 miles per hour all the way into town. After briefly mingling with Front Royalists I turned onto Happy Creek Road. This is road looks like scores of similar roads in southern West Virginia. Pretty, rolling, a bit too much traffic. After crossing the inevitable railroad tracks I turned onto Dismal Hollow Road. This is like Happy Creek Road on growth hormones, bigger, better, faster, and prettier. After about five or ten miles of Happy and Dismal, I found VA 55, the John Marshall Highway. This is a secondary (to I-66) auto route to the western exurbs of the DC area. I stopped briefly to try and buy sunscreen but the convenience store sold only SPF 10 for $11 for a 4-ounce bottle. Why bother? The store was packed with scruffy young folk getting their beer and grub for a day of tubing on the Shenandoah. Not feeling particularly comfortable with the rabble, I departed, prepared to burn.

VA 55 is a very nice ride, rolling and scenic. My only problems were two cars and a pick up that passed within inches of me for no apparent reason other than to mark their turf. The pick up driver even blared his horn at me. I suspect he will pee on the corners of his yard when he gets home to keep the neighbors away.

I rode for another ten miles, stopping once to check my map and inhale a Kudos bar. I wended my way to the quaint hamlet of Rectortown, then on to Atoka. In Atoka (not much to be "in" but I was there), I stopped at a general store for lunch. One of the great pleasures about bike riding is finding places that make excellent, inexpensive grub. This was one of them. A couple rode up on their racing bikes and we chatted over lunch. From them, I learned that the biggest farm in Atoka is owned by Senator John Warner, formerly Mr. Elizabeth Taylor.

After about a half hour of stuffing myself, I zigzagged to VA 611 which I followed for 15 miles or so north to Purcellville. Basically this was just another hour of gorgeous exurban country with the Blue Ridge off to the west. For some reason, I expected to find run down properties along this stretch if road, but was surprised to see farms, upper crust boarding schools, and new houses on big lots.

I passed many a homeowner buzzing around his lawn on his John Deere. It was like seeing tryouts for the lawn mower Olympics. You have to wonder about the American dream. First you work your fanny off to buy a big house way out yonder and then plant grass all around it. Then you spend hours and hours every weekend riding around and around, back and forth on your lawn tractor. Whatever floats your boat.

Once in Purcellville, I rode around for about five minutes until I found the western end of the W&OD rail trail. When it was first built, the W&OD took riders from crowded Arlington VA, through progressively less crowded Falls Church, Vienna, Reston, Herndon, Sterling, Ashland, Leesburg, Clarks Gap, Hamilton and Purcellville. In the old days, there was a distillery on the path in Reston with trumpet swans in an adjacent pond. That's long gone. Once clear of Herndon you used to ride past farm after farm. Today, most of the farms are residential and commercial developments, right up to the path. While it is incredible to see how the DC area has grown, it is sad to see it lose so much of its rural character. The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority which owns the W&OD is doing some nice things to ease the pain of development. They built an area of hiking and mountain biking trails out near Sterling. Across from that is an overlook where you can watch a huge stone quarry in action. I am no fan of all the cross streets on the W&OD but it is vastly superior to trying to fight traffic all the way in to Arlington. Once in Arlington I worked my way over to the Potomac River where I hooked up with the Mount Vernon Trail at National Airport.

The Mount Vernon Trail is a national treasure but, on the weekends, it is quite unsafe. You won't get mugged, but you may very well be involved in an accident. It just has too varied a mix of uses and too many users.

After another ten miles I pulled into my driveway at 5:45. My odometer read 100.5 I felt pretty good.

In addition to giving me bragging rights for riding a century, my tune up ride taught me a few things. First, get some good sunscreen. (My skin was fried.) Second, drink until you feel like popping. It was incredibly muggy all day, but I only used one bathroom (a trail side "blue room") the entire trip. I think I drank the equivalent of 10 large water bottles worth of fluid including 3 Gatorades and 1 Coke. Third, I need to take more frequent breaks. My legs would spring back to life after every stop. I did the last 25 miles nonstop, so my legs were pretty tight at the finish. Fourth, I need to relax more. I grip the bars like an old fogie driving to church in a blizzard. My lower back had a knot in it from the tension. Recumbents are designed to be ridden in relaxed comfort. I just need to take full advantage of this. Also, I need to dangle my arms periodically.

All in all, I'd say it was a successful trip. I had one minor mechanical problem with my idler wheel (a gizmo that takes up slack in the chain) hanging up when I shifted too hard into my granny gear. All in all it was a successful shakedown cruise.